Little River Chapter of Trout Unlimited

The weekend before the 4th, I headed to North Carolina and the Tuckasegee for a smallmouth float. We started at 7:30 a.m., drove to one put-in, but the river was nothing but mud. We tried another put-in — not much better. So we drove an hour and a half back to get on the stream.

At the spot, Jeremy — a guide I’ve known for years — asked, “You want to take a nice little path or slide down a hill?” Naturally, I chose to slide. But when I saw the 30-foot vertical drop, slick with moss, no footholds, nothing to grab onto, I hesitated. “Are we coming back up this way?” I asked. “Nope,” Jeremy said. “Where we get out upstream, there are stairs.” Down we went.

My casting was off, but the afternoon was beautiful. Downstream, mist danced over the water and rocks. I love that timeless view downriver. As we worked upstream, a massive pile of trees blocked our path. We couldn’t go around — a huge, active hornet’s nest hung over the river — so we climbed over.

As we changed flies, fat raindrops began to fall. We both said, “It’ll pass.” Then the sky opened up and dumped buckets on us. Still, we agreed, “It’ll pass.” Suddenly the sky lit up like fireworks, followed by a loud crack. “Time. To. Get. Out. Of. Here!” We scrambled back over the trees and up the now-slippery hill. I pulled myself up along rocks and mountain laurel until, nearing the top, Jeremy was able to get ahead and haul me up the rest of the way.

At the truck, we were laughing, soaked, out of breath — exhilarated. On the drive home, retelling the story, I realized: even though I didn’t catch a fish, fly fishing had once again given me another unforgettable story to add to my life’s archives. Most days start and end pretty normally. But a day with a fly rod in hand is the beginning of a mystical, magical journey — where beauty and adventure always await.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

Hope to see you at the picnic!!!!
Kim Emery
President

“Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand have I been less than in a place that was less than beautiful.”
-Charles Kuralt

Newsletter

If collective data provided important information to do your job or any other aspects affecting your world, then you can understand how LRCTU heavily depends upon our volunteer data. Not just in the volunteer work that we do, but the volunteer hours involved in that work.

Our volunteer hours justify grant requests, donations, and give the GSMNP data they need for planning and funding. This data is the very heart of survival for LRCTU, its mission, and how we can help the GSMNP Fisheries.

Using the current national data for what a volunteer hour is worth, each hour entered is plus $34.79 making every volunteer hour NOT ENTERED, NEGATIVE $34.79. Not entering hours cancels out someone else’s hard work!

In the last 4 years, volunteers donated 13,314 hours which is equivalent to donating $460,000.00 to LRCTU and GSMNP!

And then there’s this; there is one of me and one of Bernie Maloy with at least 83 people volunteering. It takes you a lot less time to quickly fill out the form for each event than it does for me and Bernie to comb through the list to find what’s missing, contact everyone, make sure it’s entered, contact again if not. Some might wait until March, when we send out the PLEASE for year-end reporting. We appreciate hours entered, but when it’s all at once, it skews the data for YTD, making it hard to keep track in real time.

So, for every volunteer event you participate in, I am (begging, pleading with) asking you to be kind to a couple of old brains! It might seem trivial to you, but it’s a huge thing for the collective us.

If you want to check to see what hours you have entered already, go to VOLUNTEER HOURS RECORDED.  This is a View Only file.  In order to actually enter your hours, access our website at LRCTU.org.  Find Submit Volunteer Hours Here! under our logo on the right-hand side of the page.

Looking forward to the picnic Thursday, July 24! There will be great burgers, potluck, and of course, having fun. Bring a chair, a spouse or friend, and come early if you want to fish; it is on the river, ya know!

Hope your summer is off to a great start!
Kim Emery
President

Newsletter

Wow, another Trout in the Classroom session comes to an end. This program is a bounty of enthusiasm and feel good for so many people and students. As volunteers we have had the privilege of watching eyes go wide when they see a river for the first time or a piece of knowledge sparks their interest.

The adults involved receive many benefits as well. Teachers get a day out and a sort of day off, while volunteers participate in something very special. I am not sure everyone appreciates all that the volunteers do and we should. We have volunteers that drive over an hour one way to be bright eyed and bushy tailed first thing in the morning, some donning their boots and waders to get into the river in search of a bug collection worthy of a presentation. Then there are the school coordinators that spent time all semester watching the tank, talking with classes, bringing the fingerlings to the release, then cleaning up and closing down the tank until the next session.

Being involved with Trout in the Classroom is one of my favorite things. I always feel I personally gain something from each release. I love fishing, but the gratification from this, well, it beats even the moment of the largest brown I ever caught. I’ll even throw in the time I caught the big Brookie on the Tuck!

Summer is upon us and many will start traveling soon. If you are one of those, here’s wishing you safe travels and a wonderful vacation, or family time, or whatever it is you will be doing. If you aren’t traveling, we have a great summer of presentations and a picnic for you to enjoy!

As always, our Newsletter Creator in Chief, Joyce Frey, has all of the information you need for upcoming events. Please continue scrolling!

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

Kim
LRCTU Chapter President

Newsletter